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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Today is the last day of March, no applause necessary. Today is also a Tuesday, which means new movies will come out today. So I'm combining a few posts to make another end of march post, but it's only in terms of movie releases. Tomorrow I'll be posting a new review, and we'll begin April! No April fool's joke needed, I'll just post a new review and leave it at that.

There you have it folks, all the movies that came out in the horror/sci-fi genre for the month of March with links to where you can buy them. If you decide you have some extra money to burn, why not do it here? If not, it's all good. Thank you for visiting the site, I'll have a review up tomorrow of a Clive Barker film.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Here we go again, another end of the month post for those of you that keep up with this blog. If you have missed what I have been posting then here are the links for you in one easy end of the month post. I do this monthly to make it easier to track the reviews I have done. Below are the March 2009 reviews and posts that I have done.

Friday, March 27, 2009

In 1983 two big things happened. Sleepaway Camp was released to little to no fan fare. The second thing that happened was something that would change blogging forever! Sir Jorge (me) was born in Guanahuato, Mexico. That's right, Sleepaway Camp came out and it really shook up the slasher film genre and is a cult classic. While many called it a Friday the 13th rip off, others saw it as another good entry into the horror world. The shock ending is still something that many people talk about to this day! So join me in a look at the cult classic, Sleepaway Camp from 1983.

This movie is an interesting piece of work, but can seem long at times. The movie follows a group of campers at a "sleepaway camp". Camp Arawak is a random camp and it is a throwback to what was the customary thing to do in the summer for many suburban kids. They went to camp, and there was no internet, no real escapism, which created a lot of horror stories, but surprisingly they went untold. Unless you count some lesser known slasher films from the 70's or Meatballs, there really wasn't a whole lot of attraction to telling stories from camp. There's an interesting new take on camp recently and we have seen comedy thrive above anything camp related, and it's due in large part to the fact that no one really goes to a camp for the summer without technology being around.

Back to the point at hand, this movie has a simple premise. There is someone int he camp getting slaughtered. These killings are mysterious and brutal, and some expect that it is the work of someone that is being picked on. That being said, there are two factions of kids bullying other kids, creating a motive for the killings. This underlining threat carries through the second half of the film and comes to a full boil towards the end.

The movie is terribly shot. If you saw the original vhs transfer, you probably don't have fond memories of this film quality. For whatever reason the vhs tape at my store was terrible, and it had been rented a ton of times by horror movie hounds and fiends left and right. It's interesting to note that this new dvd transfer is a lot better than the original vhs of this film. Maybe the original theatrical reels have a better quality to them, but the film grain in this film is terrible. If this film was 10 years earlier in 1973 it would have been right at home with the exploitation cinema that was is getting a resurgence as of late.

The second cool thing about this movie isn't actually in the movie. The original box cover artwork for this film is one of the best. It is a knife going through a shoe with blood and rain dripping down. On the back of the box was a letter home from a camper and they talk about the synopsis of the film in a strange way. It is almost as if R.L Stine wrote the back cover, as it didn't show gore it didn't have screen grabs it was just a basic synopsis in letter format, written in cursive. This sort of advertising would not be used in the next three films in the series, but overall it made kids like me interested in horror movies. I rented it, and found out that it was a cool movie, although it had a stupid moment in the middle.

The beginning of the film is odd. A family is enjoying a vacation when their parents are killed in a boating accident. We fast forward to an odd part of the film with these kids being sent off to camp. There are also some gay love scenes thrown into the edit of the film that I saw, which made no sense. I am assuming that the film makers were trying to show that there was a sexual ambiguity to our lead character, and it would prove to be one of the most shocking things in movie history.

The middle of the film really bugs a lot of people. The middle of the film shows three or four innings of a camp baseball game. That's right, a full sequence, about ten to twenty minutes of a baseball scene is truncated into the middle of this film! This part is disheartening and really bugs me, but if you manage to stay in for the rest of the film, business picks up rapidly and we get to the good stuff.

Is Sleepaway Camp Scary? : Yes. There are several scary moments in this film and it should be noted that they are not gorey. There is not a great amount of gore in this film, where as the second films relied heavily on gore and sex, this film strayed from that sort of thing. This film showed you the cause of the kills rather the kills themselves, and then they showed you the after math of the kills with lots of makeup effects and good overall technology, without using CG! Yep, this was classic make up effects and it created a great sense of horror.

The scariest part of the film is the realities of false accusations. Much like a lot of other plot twists in horror film history, the camp counselors start to blame the hot head of the group. The kid that is defending his cousin from bullies is blamed for the murders and it's a common thread in our world full of mistaken identity. It's a scary thing to think that there are people that are convicted of things that they didn't do and then sit in prison for years. Most recently I saw on 60 minutes a story about a woman that identified her rapist in a line up, only to learn that it wasn't him. However, she and the justice system didn't find out until 20 years later! Meanwhile the wrongfully accused ended up in jail for a long time. Sure, this story isn't the existential equal to the plot in Sleepaway Camp, however, it is a scary thing in life to be accused of something serious especially murder and not be the person that is doing it. It is scary to note that I made such a comparison in regards to "Witch Hunts" recently and this movie also plays on those commonalities.

The second scariest part of this film is the way it ends. This movie ends with a shocker, but moreover it ends with psychotic ending. The ending involves a decapitated head with a naked girl petting it. This is a shock ending on two major points. First thing first, the character isn't who we think it is and we see a full naked person and a scary head looking at the camera in still frame for the ending, creating huge gasps in the living room that you're watching this in. I won't completely tell you what happens at the end, but if you look hard enough, you'll get the spoiler.

Out of the series of films that this movie spawned this one is the most homoerotic at times, it's the most gruesome, and it is the most tame. This movie really tries to push the envelope and it succeeds without completely shocking you with gore and violence. There are some gruesome scenes, but you feel that the characters who die are directly involved in the decisions to what happens to them. Much like the Saw films, these people are not meant to just get killed they make bad choices and are not innocent, like many other slasher films try to portray the victims. Sleepaway Camp is available on dvd and is not half bad. It is a boring film at times, but I've seen it so many times that it's worth while to me. You have to put away your technology to enjoy this film, because you are set in a different time frame, this is not a new kind of story but it's cool enough to watch, maybe even own. I recommend Sleepaway Camp and it is one of my top 3 favorite camp horror movies.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Once again we are going to be diving into the mail box, or comments, for todays post. I'm trying to give a little back to you guys that read this site and support the blog by reading it. So here we go, another edition of From the MAIL BAG! WOOO!

That is really unfair of Entrecard to do that to you. But from what I heard, apparently Entrecard is going to start shoving down advertisements down people's throats for their own profit. So maybe it's a good thing you left.

Yes. It was very unfair to get singled out on entrecard. Considering that they allow a lot of other spam sites in their network and to this day, haven't been removed, it's a wonder why I was targeted. Since then my traffic has dwindled and I really had to reconsider again why I still write on this site. This site is really a labor of love, I don't do it for the money, fame or success. In fact, those three things never happen on blogs, at least not blogs of this type, so I guess they are the ones that are losing, not me. Thanks for the comment, and keep coming back and reading, commenting and enjoying horror.

Not a great movie. Was Steven even in this one; seems like he played a minor supporting part with minimal character development. It was a bad knock off of 28 days later. Very few redeeming qualities. I dare you to disagree.... "We are here to decide who lives and dies.......... I am going hunting.."

In some ways it was a knock off, but it was so terribly done that I didn't care. It's true, Steven was not a main focus of this film, he showed up every now and again, but he definitely wasn't involved as much as his other starring roles. He did a lot of back end stuff though, like production and what not, so maybe he's moving into a more behind the scenes roll in regards to film. I don't know. This wasn't that great, but it was watchable. Besides, what would you expect from this guy? At this point, he's not making a huge comeback.

After taking most of the credit for the character, I'm surprised he hasn't legally changed his name to Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund. But the movie looks pretty good. I'll probably order it up from Amazon ($5 used).

You're right man, I can't believe Englund hasn't just changed his name, since he can't separate himself from the character that made him famous. The movie was interesting and for 5 bucks it's worth it. The second one is terrible, and Englund's career has never really bounced back from him playing that iconic character.

And that's it. Not too crazy, but then again, some of the comments weren't much to read or talk about. I'm currently working on more posts and watching movies, and am trying to make a go for it on this site as usual. We're reaching the end of the month so expect 1 more review, and then the best of post and the March horror movie releases post, and then a new month! We'll see how April goes, I have a busy month ahead of me. Stick around these parts and don't forget to leave a comment, recommendation or suggestion. Thanks again for all those that commented and read this site.

Monday, March 23, 2009

I've never been a fan of movies involving twins. I guess it really got bad for me when my sister, while she was really young, watched the Disney channel way too much. I saw "The Parent Trap" involving some twins, way too many times. If that wasn't enough, it seemed like the whole "Twins" thing was just played out, with the exception of the comedic movie "Twins" which wasn't half bad, in its absurdity. When it was time to sit down and watch the 1972 Hammer Horror classic, I was a bit hesitant, especially since I had just reviewed two other Hammer movies to lackluster fan fare. However, the show must go on, the blog must be updated, and I need to keep my eyes open, so here is the review of the 1972 movie Twins of Evil.

The plot of this movie definitely looked a lot like "The Crucible" at times, and was done way better than even the Award Nominated version that we saw in theaters with Daniel Day Lewis. The movie revolves around a couple of twins, one good, one evil. They are thrust into a new world when their parents die and they move in with their Puritanical Aunt and Uncle in Karnstein (Central Europe). Things get interesting when we it is revealed that their uncle is the leader of "The Brotherhood" a religious group that stamps out witchcraft and satanism, burning people at the stake at even the hint of being involved with the occult.

The most astonishing thing about this film, at least to me, was the set design and the costumes. The costumes are somewhat elaborate for Hammer Horror, but the sets were really done well. It seemed that at this point Hammer was setting up PBS style made for tv theater, because it is amazing. Alongside the sets, which really make you believe you're in central Europe, the lighting is perfect for a 1972 film. The lighting in this film is spectacular, and rivals even some of the newer films that we have seen come out recently. Granted, you are thinking that this film looks good because it has been remastered, but not so friends. I saw this film via a VHS transfer, not a dvd! that's right, the vhs of this film looked great, and really made me consider how cool vhs, even to this day.

Another interesting thing in this film is the clever camera angles that really made use of the cleavage of the twins. No, not the boobs, but the actual twins, always bending over in camera view, always nearly showing you nipples, and really teasing you at the idea of jail bait! This was very weird, but it was the 1970's so I understand if the intent of the director really was to entice viewers. Whatever the case is, it is truly interesting to see the sexuality pushed in this movie, decades before we got gratuitous nudity and sexual situations, just for the R rating! Did it diminish the film in some way? Not really, because I don't believe that a woman would notice this. At least not the average woman. My wife didn't really notice this, but me, being a male, really thought the director was going for my senses with creative camera angles at times.

Peter Cushing is once again in the starring role, and the dude looks generally serious and sometimes scary. He fits into this role like a glove, and he brings some brilliant acting to an otherwise terrible premise at times. He isn't as good as Daniel Day Lewis, but is close in the way they are different.

The film feels like a Witch film, but it really tries to tie Witches, Warlocks and Vampires. Seriously, vampirism and the occult meet head to head in this film, that is seriously trying to be a stage play instead of movie. With that in mind, here we have to consider the ideas pushed out, even if they are accidental at times.

Is Twins of Evil Scary: No. The problem with the last couple of Hammer Horror films I've reviewed, really has to do with the amount of time and attention that is given to the atmosphere. You don't really feel that you're watching horror film, you feel like you're watching a PBS production or a historical film of some kind. You never really feel that tingling in the back of your spine, you don't feel goosebumps, and the plot twists are really done with "film making" in mind! For whatever reasons, the timing involved with the scare tactics really finds good company with dramatic film, rather than horror film. This could be seen as a flaw for people that are really looking to get scared, and a big disappointment for new comers to the Hammer Horror genre of films.

The scary thing about this film is missed if you're not a history buff, or if you just don't remember your American History or World History for that matter. If you're interested in the next topic that I will cover, please refer to Blacklisted by Stanton Evans and The Salem Witch Trials if you seriously want to get the following references I'm about to pull out of this film.

The witch hunts in this film are great. It really takes you back to the Spanish Inquisition and more recently (just in large part to calendar) the Salem Witch Trials (and McCarthyism), and you see how strong the Puritanical uncle really is. He, like many Abortion dissenters, are really diehard about snuffing out all evil and all ties with vampires, witches, occult and evil. However, when he realizes that it's in his own house, his tune begins to change a slight bit. Unwavering, he does the unthinkable with this crew, which is a huge message for those that are so diehard about their religion, faith, thoughts, and leanings. In the same vein, consider the Pro-Life family that is so gung-ho about Pro-Life until their daughter is raped and they have to come to terms with the notion that it has happened to them and the Pro-Choice ideology seems like a viable option. That sort of emotional connection can be pulled from this film with the emotional situation that comes about through the discovery that one of the Twins is evil!

There is some odd sexual tension in this film as well. Peter Cushing's threat to his nieces involving spanking is now weird. At least in 2009 and understanding everything I understand, the constant threat of spankings is just weird. Considering the girls age, it seems uncommon. However, in the 18th century, maybe this is not too uncommon and obviously is not seen as a sexual idea, so I'll refrain from making more reference to that in this film.

Twins of Evil is available on dvd, and it is ok. It's not going to be a must see for many different people. I for one, would not recommend this film over many others. However, the good acting makes this film a little better than most, and if you're trying to convince someone that horror movies can be viable films to showcase acting and film technology, this movie might get you somewhere. Sure, it's not a contender for awards of any kind, but it is interesting to note how far the Hammer Horror studios went to display such a story with elaborate sets, and such a clever eye for costume detail, it really should be seen by true fans. Twins of Evil is definitely one of my personal favorites of the Hammer series, however, it is not going to win casual fans. This dvd is out of print at the time of this review, so if you find it on vhs, snag it up, it's worthwhile.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Growing up the church I was going to would scare me by telling me that if I ever even opened the book of satan that I would be going to hell and damned forever. For a while I bought it hook line and sinker. However, I'm older now, and have gone through college and now I am a little smarter than my idiot 10 year old counterpart. So I have read the Book of Satan, and know all about Anton Levay and all the other cult leaders that have come and gone. I'm not really scared of them. However, there is a large number of the population that takes these things so serious that they won't even gaze upon the evil that lurks behind Channel X! Today we are going to review and try to understand a little piece of 70's cinema from Anton Levay called Satanis! So go get a hot beverage and sit down for a second and actually read a little about the Church of Satan....ooooh....scary.

Satanis: The Devil's Mass is a documentary film that was made in 1970 about none other than Anton Lavey. The video was part short film and part recruitment video for the Church of Satan and it is poorly done. It features interviews from Lavey, his followers, and intimate interiors of the church and ritual processes.

The film grain is understandable, this is 1970, but the editing is terrible and whoever was working the camera didn't seem to know what he was doing. We had some terrible movements and camera angles that were just intrusive more than documentary and really took you out of the picture, and that's not the intention, I'm sure.

The funniest part of this film, which I'm sure is unintentionally funny, is of Mormon missionaries talking about the Church of Satan. The reason why it is so funny to me is because the Church of Satan and the Church of Mormon have blood rituals that are similar in clothing, symbols and so much more. It's almost a parallel religion, only one influences a lot of culture while the other is comprised of goth kids, rejects and a few loose women.

The movie ends up being really boring and laughable at times, rather than scary or cult like. The people involved in the services don't even look like they want to be there, and outside of Lavey, this whole movie is just sad. The movie really doesn't go into the philosophy of the church or what the meanings of anything are, they just talk about random stuff and you start to feel that the idea for this film probably came after some drug usage or something, because there is no clear linear path being shown in this film.

The music is terrible. The credits for the music go to Anton Lavey, and that brings me to an interesting thought. Those of you that might be aware of "Satan" in regards to Christian doctrine, you might have heard that he was a "worship" leader in heaven. If that is the case, then why in the world does Anton Lavey (who is suppose to be closest to Satan) have the worst taste in music? Seriously, the sounds of the film really are terrible and dated even for 1970, and I'm not sure why anyone would like it. I mean, I've heard goth music, I've heard deicide and all sorts of "satanic" music, but Lavey's score in this film really is the worst thing I've heard in any film, ever.

There is an interview from a Christian priest, and he really puts the nail into the coffin of my review. He basically says that Lavey is only trying to seek attention in turn doing the opposite of Christianity. I argue that if Satanism is the opposite of Christianity, then you have to be an expert on Christian theology, practice, and beliefs or else how are you going to know how to be opposite? Therefore making this film the most unintentionally hilarious film I've ever seen.

Is Satanis Scary?: NO. This film is laughable. This film might have been scary to some Christians that misunderstood the Church of Satan and were afraid to talk to Lavey or even consider what his message truly was. I don't find this movie offensive, I just find it hilarious that so many people to this day are afraid of knowing anything about Satan, Satanis, Lavey and dare I even mention Marilyn Manson? Why can't we as people, believers and non believers stand up and stop being scared?

This film is hilarious, not scary. It is in the horror section of many movie stores, simply on the notion that Lavey was a scary dude, I mean millions are legitimately scared of "Satan". As a believer, I'm not scared. However, this film makes me laugh even more at the thought of someone trying to seek that "do what thou wilt" mentality, when it obviously only segregates you from everyone else, including your own people! Then again, Twilight was a huge hit, so maybe I'm wrong.

Watch Satanis on dvd, just for the fact that it is suppose to be the epitome of evil. It's not scary as much as it is gross, funny, and irrelevant today and probably forever. One thing that Satanis has going for it, is the fact that it is a documentary so the things you see are real. Now compare those to the horror movies we traditionally watch, and you'll see where a lot of directors got their ideas from.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I know that this blog is mainly movie reviews. However, this week I ran into something rad for the Wednesday update, and wanted to share it with you guys. Some of you may or may not be familiar with The Puppet Master Series, and if you are not in the now, it's a really cool horror series.

The story revolves around a Puppet Maker who is making living puppets. Simple enough right? The scary parts begin when Nazis break down the doors of the puppe master's shop and start to terrorize the man, leading to a whole series of events and even a suicide....My simplistic analysis aside, you should really consider checking out the movies. I'll review them sooner than later, but for now...I wanted to share with you a few panels from the official Puppet Master Comic Book Adaptation of the movie. Just a few...nothing more nothing less...

Oh, these are not necessarily forming of a story just clips from the interior.

To view larger images, please click on the graphics and they will enlarge slightly.

This panel below was prefaced with a sex sequence of a somewhat graphic proportion and deemed it unfit for this blog...only because it had no killing in it...and that's what we're after...right? I kid. It did have a sex scene, but I skipped it...so we begin moments after/during the sex scene below.

Don't call me lazy, it's not that. Netflix didn't send me a horror movie, instead they sent me 6 other films all in the realms of action, comedy, and documentary. I will receive a horror film sooner than later, and if not, you'll have to just bare with me. I try to review new movies or movies that I don't own, but if nothing comes through by Friday, I'll have to watch one of the many films I own, but I intend to use my own private stash for when I can't afford Netflix any longer, rendering them a last resort of sorts. I have another Comic Book update in the que if nothing shows up, or as a bonus for the near future. Enjoy these gorey, fun artistic renderings based on the films.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

This week in horror movie releases is not all that great. I personally am looking forward to picking up The Punisher Warzone movie, I am a huge fan of the comic books and really don't mind the Marvel studio films of The Punisher. Other than that, it's a little slim this week, unless you're a huge fan of Twilight.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Once again, we step into the 21st century of film. This movie should have been a grindhouse cinema classic, as it offers nothing more than a thin plot, and terror. The Strangers provides a good amount of jump scares, creepy scenes, but overall doesn't do much in the way of setting up another pg-13 type of movie. I was hoping for more out of this film, considering it went on to make quite a bit of money with a low budget. So here we go, on a lovely Monday morning, we are going to be looking at the 2008 film The Strangers.

This movie has a simple synopsis. Two people are terrorized by masked culprits, and that's about it. Not too unlike the idea that brought us "Funny Games" last year. However, where that movie really tried to be a social commentary in the midst of a horror film, this one just tries to scare you right away and never lets you go. However, you're tired by the end of it, and it really doesn't provide for much else but creep factor.

The movie opens up innocently enough, and the film makers try to make you feel for the characters. However, the first thing you see on screen is a disclaimer of sorts, telling you that this is based on true events. As you may know, that is just a horror movie cliche at this point to drum up interest in what otherwise is a horror movie. If you want to break it down further, you are essentially watching a movie to entertain you on the basis of someone's tragedy. But that's not for here and now, so we'll digress for a moment. The characters are seen at a wedding reception and you feel the emotional connection just out of pity as one of the characters eats out of a tub of ice cream.

The movie progresses slowly with a lot of stillness, quiet, and nothing in the way of score. The movie has to set this up for you to get into the horror, as the couple is in the middle of nowhere, yet has the amenities of the 21st century. The movie moves along and you really start to wonder about this film, because you have to invest a good amount of time of nothing, and then it starts. There is the creepiest of figures in the background and he silently stalks his victim, not moving forward too much, and just enough to scare you on screen.

The sounds make this movie good. The foley is dead on. You hear subtle footprints, heart beats, and breathing. You hear wood creaks and even when it is still there is something going on that just sends a chill down your spine. All the cliche things that make for a good payoff are found in this film's set up, creating a nice atmosphere. However, the payoff doesn't really push you over, and you end up wanting more of a story, which is odd, considering this film seems like a spot on slasher film at times.

Liv Tyler is not too bad in this film. She does a lot of crying and actually fights back in a few spots, and I liked her in this role at times. The other parts of the cast offers a little more to this film, but nothing is going to win awards as the Academy doesn't feel that acting scared is too hard.

Is The Strangers Scary? Yes. The movie offers up a lot of scary moments, besides the typical jump scenes. The scariest of scenes really does upgrade this film from a passing thought to a rental in one particular shot. (no pun intended) The couple are locked in a closet with a shotgun and they are scared. They hear someone approaching and as soon as the character appears BOOOM! Shot to the head with a shotgun, in all the gorey glory you could imagine from this type of film. This of course works perfectly because they kill the wrong person! It was their friend, promoting the tone and feeling of the film to hysterics, and scaring you with the real scenario of accidental shootings in the home. This is the best part of this film, because we hear about accidental shootings all the time.

The scariest of parts is that the killers are so much smarter than the people. This is true in large part because serial killers often times are so smart in what they do. Obviously, in the heat of the moment, people just put their gaurd down and are easy to scare. This film plays on that fear well, and it pushes the boundaries until the end. There is a lot of stereotypical things to this film that doesn't do favors to the discerning audience (like me), but it works briefly. The goriest part of the film is the head wound, but that's not saying a whole lot. There is a portion of this film that involves slashing and stabbing but the film makers swing the cameras away from the action and you are left with sounds and screams. There are also a lot of logical problems with this film and if you ask questions, you are going to be saddened by the way they are answered.

The reason why this film should've been a grindhouse classic is because it doesn't offer a lot in the way of story. The purpose of this film is just to scare you via gore. The head shot, coupled with the plight of the couple and their captors is something that made 80's slashers great. The moment that this transcends mere stupidity is that the killers meet up with a couple of Mormon boys and talk to them, and they do not attack or do anything. They simply go along their way. This piece of footage made the film so much more than just a throwaway horror film. However, most might argue that The Strangers is a tight thriller with horror elements and is worth watching more than once, and they'd be wrong. This film misses the mark in the way of emotional connection, and really tries to jump the shark as the main character runs out of the house unprotected. Lame. The Strangers offers a nice bit of sound design and some good scares, but as a whole it's not going to win any horror awards any time soon.

Friday, March 13, 2009

I never thought that I'd have this problem again. I've managed to run into some technical difficulties for todays review. Netflix sent me the next film I was going to review but it had a huge crack in the dvd. So I sent it back. I have the ROKU streaming box for Netflix but I had to review TNA Impact for my professional wrestling blog. So today there is no major update.

Oh but I do want to mention one thing really quick. I have been essentially banned from entrecard. They said this site was nothing more than a spam blog and instead of fighting them, I told them to delete my account. Screw them! I write a lot in this blog and while I do link to amazon a lot, I try to review the movies and ideas that are put out through horror. I hope this doesn't mean you hate this site, because it's not really meant to be a site that is for spam. I really try hard to write intelligently, and while I am not the greatest writer I try my best.

Trying doesn't mean that this site is good, but apparently the people at Entrecard thought I wasn't worthy for their service.

With the huge drop in traffic and new visitors, I have reinstated google adsense. It's not that I'm trying to get rich with this site, but I am trying to cover the cost of netflix with it. I don't know, I'm a little torn in regards to the whole advertising thing, but I think it's a fair balance considering the amount of content that I try to write per post.

I know, you might think it's not that hard to come up with these reviews, but cut me some slack. This site and those that have commented are awesome! (That means YOU) I appreciate the support, the rss subscribers, the commenters and all others that stumble on this site. Please continue to support this site and hopefully I don't have too many more days like this one.

I'll be back on Monday with an all new review! I'm trying my hardest to get things rolling without a huge break in reviews, but hey...life gets in the way sometimes. I know that the entrecard set back for me was huge, but moreover I've had to deal with some great new challenges at work, and that's frustrating to say the very least.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Sometimes films are mislabeled. This one was mislabeled as horror, but after seeing it, I could see why someone might think that this film was a horror film instead of a noirish thriller. The movie shows the darkness of the human soul, the scary feeling of being a deviant and how far you would go to not help yourself. I made an argument for the callousness of neighbors in today's society, and this is another great example of my thoughts in regards to callous neighbors. So without further ado, here is a review for the 2007 Stuart Gordon Film Stuck.

Stuart Gordon is a famous horror movie director and writer, and this is his 2007 release. He previously did Re-Animator, From Beyond, and Dolls just to name a couple of his films. This movie is a nice jump to a more traditional film than his previous straight to the throat science fiction and horror films. Stuck starts with a simple premise and builds slowly into an explosion of gasoline proportions! Seriously, this thing slowly builds to a major ending that is not too unlike a revenge thriller like "52 Pick Up".

The movie follows a young nurse as she goes from her job to a night of partying. At the club she takes drugs and drinks heavily. Meanwhile, the story shifts to a man who is being evicted and finds that the streets aren't easily accessible for a new homeless person. He ends up late night trying to get to a mission for shelter. Meanwhile our nurse is now leaving the club, driving home drunk and BOOOM! She hits the homeless man with her car, he shatters the windshield and gets lodged into the car. Instead of her calling for help, she drives home and leaves him in the garage! This scene is sick and gorey. The gore and sound combination in this part of the film create a horrific vision and creates a real horror anatomy in an otherwise tame thriller. The gore is what elevates this film beyond a drama into an insane world of horror.

Mena Suvari, you might remember her from American Pie and American Beauty and other films. I thought she was kind of cute in those movies, but in this movie she gets buck wild. This movie gets an R rating because she is in a sex scene that seems to last forever. I don't know how actors do this type of acting, this is as close to porno that you can see in an R rated setting, but this part builds to the horror of the film as she envisions her victim doing the deed with her! Seriously, this part of the film is tough, seriously tough. Mena Suvari in a nude scene would have been ok, but this sex scene is the most unsexy thing I've seen in a long time. Maybe that's the horror we're suppose to get from this film.

The film quality is that of an independent film and really holds the Stuart Gordon signature in many ways. The camera shots, the acting and the style are easy to notice. This doesn't seem like a straight to dvd film because the film grain is right above HD shoulder cams.

The movie reaches a major turning point when people get alarmed by the man in the garage, who is doing whatever he can to escape this situation.

Is Stuck Scary ?: Yes. In a lot of ways this is the scariest movie I've seen this year. Not because the film scares me, but because that this film is loosely based on a true story. The true story doesn't have the same ending this film does, but in real life, some lady did essentially murder a homeless man in the same fashion.

The scary moments come with the fact that the woman in question nearly gets caught many times. Her neighbors are illegal immigrants and don't call the police because they are scared. I know this feeling too well. My parents and I came here from Mexico and for many years were illegal immigrants. We were complete scared of the Police and never called them for anything. My parents even told me to hide under the seat when I saw Police, and to this day I'm a little nervous about them, even though I'm an American citizen now. Each time people are close to saving the victim, the woman finds ways to stop them. This is the same type of thing that occurs in "Misery" where no one seems to know that there is something wrong, until it gets a little late.

Another scary moment involves the victim trying to escape. He keeps getting close to escape but can't muster up to escape completely. The woman catches him and even gets help. This slow building sequence gets better when the victim stabs someone in the eye with a pen! The gore effects in this get magnified when our victim pushes the pen through the guys head in real time! It's a great role, and a great moment in this film. I really appreciated the attention to realism that came through in this moment.

Over all Stuck really left an impression on me. The movie is played out like a drama, or an Edgar Allen Poe story, and really has heavy lamentations to it. The movie is not supernaturl nor is it a slasher film. This movie deals with the human condition and deals with a real life scenario that is really scary for those of you out there partying and drunk driving. Check out Stuck on dvd, if you want a change of pace. It's not too outlandish, and really is set to a true life story that occurred in recent years.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Alright, this week in horror movie releases lacks luster compared to the other weeks of releases. I tried to narrow things down to only the best in Sci-Fi and Horror this week and my personal recommendation is Ben X. I heard it was Belgiums answer to Donnie Darko. I think it's Belgium, I'm not sure. So check that one out for sure. The rest are standard fare, nothing too crazy. Definitely check these movies out if you're going to buy something on dvd.

Monday, March 9, 2009

In the late 80's and through the mid 90's Hollywood was giving Martial Arts stars a big push. Movies starring Van Damme, Seagal and others were constantly in mainstream action films. These films were often times very brutal in nature, rated R and weren't really much to watch. These films did well early on, then got terrible as time went on. As time went on, the American movie going public didn't go see these guys in theaters anymore and they found a new audience with straight to dvd movies. Recently, headlines were made when Jean Claude Van Damme nearly hit the box office with a new film, then rumors swirled and later confirmed that Sylvester Stallone would bring back a rag tag team of action movie stars to star in a new feature length film, and you know that it will most likely hit the box office. However, absent from the group of names thrown around with Stallone is Steven Seagal. Seagal has been in films like "Above the Law", "Hard to Kill" and "Under Siege" just to name a few. He has been a soft spoken martial arts star and recently has joined the rest of the martial art movie stars in direct to dvd features. Of course, the exception is Jackie Chan, but then again, he has been a huge star in Hong Kong long before he made his first American only film. Steven Seagal jumps back to dvd this year with an adventure in all things macabre, creating an interesting combination of zombie, vampires and martial arts, not too unlike "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" from Hammer Film Studios, with one huge difference; these undead creatures are fast and ruthless...oh and Steven Seagal is the star. So without further ado, here we go into a review of "Against the Dark" featuring Steven Seagal!

Steven Seagal stars as a leader of a special ops unit that vanquish vampires. It's that simple. The movie's plot is similar to 28 Days Later, if only in that there is an infection going around that is turning people into zombie vampire looking things, who are running through people left and right, creating an army of sorts for Steven Segal and company to mow down in some interesting fight scenes.

The look and feel of this film is not too unlike other straight to dvd movies. There is a nice high definition feel to the film, and the camera is not too bad. This camera is not like "Serum" or other horror movies that landed straight to dvd. It's a notch above, and dare I say, even borderlines with good straight to dvd films. The pacing is right there too, spot on, good overall pacing, throwing you directly into the action and not leaving a lot of room for plot structure or explanation. While there are some moments in this film that seem dry, it's not terrible and you never feel like you're bored out of your skull. Granted, Seagal is not in this film as much as the box cover and hype surrounding the film suggests, but you don't mind, since he can't really act all that well to begin with. The film does manage to have an above average supporting cast to carry Seagal through some tougher, more rigid parts of this film.

There is a lot of cg bullet effects in this film, similar to that of "Zombie Strippers" however, it isn't overblown and over the top. The thing that bugs me in this film is the switch between camera movement. The camera is still and very "Hollywood" in a lot of ways, until there is fighting and chaos on the screen. This is my problem with "28 Weeks Later" and "House of the Dead". The chaotic camera movements and shoulder cam type of motion really pulls me out of the film, and is not necessary. They also do not need to slow down or speed up the action, and while I understand that this gives the movie a little more artistic push, it really hinders the effectiveness of Seagal's performance.

The gore effects are good, at least adequate in many ways. The best part of the gore in this film is that a lot of it comes from a sword! Steven Seagal uses a gun in this film sparingly, he uses the sword a lot and he hacks and slashes his way through zombie vampires with ease. He doesn't do a lot of hand to hand combat and there's a great deal of action with no remorse. Good overall fights, and good overall kills, bring this movie from the bottom of the barrel to above average in the details.

Is Against the Dark Scary? : No. While there are a lot of effects and gore in this film, there's not a whole lot more to it. Where this film fails most is in the story. The story is average and patched together into a mish mash of other zombie vampire style films. There's nothing really new that this film does, and half the times you wonder if the vampires are really vampires or if they are truly zombies. It's something that the film never fully addresses and the viewer doesn't care about.

This straight to dvd film is not worth over thinking or really trying to stretch words for. Steven Seagal is not making a good comeback with this film, but it's better than most of his other straight to dvd works. While this film is a little bit above the radar now, it's NOT that great overall and will likely not make it to a lot of people's dvd players. Sure it has a few good moments, but the sum of the parts leaves you wanting, and that's not a good thing. Against the Dark is a little above average, but not worth giving my best rating. Steven Seagal is a little better, but not by much. Enter this one at your own risk.